Forum Help

If you want to ask about changing your username, have login problems, have password problems or a technical issue please email forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com

Posting help:

If you want to ask why a word can't be typed, your signature's been changed, or a post has been deleted see the Forum Rules. If you don't find the answer you can ask forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com though due to volumes we can't guarantee replies.

At the moment £3,000 in NS&I 3 year fixed at 2.2% and £5,000 in OakNorth Bank 3 year fixed at 1.91%.

Will give me £198 (NSI) + £286.50 (OakNorth) = £484.50 after 3 years.

I want to invest the money in a completely risk free way, so no stocks and shares etc.

I'm intrigued by these juggling techniques many of you indulge in and was curious to know how I go about it, most of it appears Klingon to me. Can any of you fellow moneysavers provide me with a few simple steps on how I could start my juggling act and what kind of returns could I be looking at?

You can get a minimum of 3% on that amount of money and probaley closer to 4 or 5%.

TSB, Tesco & Nationwide Flexclusive (for 1 year) to start with in terms of current accounts, and add a Nationwide Regular Saver alongside to boost the return.

If you achieved 4% pa on the whole £8k then that would be £320 per year or £960 over 3 years.

Each account has its own Ts&Cs but fairly straightforward. The main one is typically paying a minimum amount in each month (say £1k) but this can be sent on to the next account in the chain straight after it has been paid in, it does not have to stay there.

Have a look on main MSE site for articles on best Current Accounts and Regular Savers.

Start with the number of regular monthly direct debits you already have, and how much work you are prepared to put in to increase that number and also to maintain the accounts you set up.

That is key to working out which accounts to pick as most have a minimum number of active/paying out direct debits in order to qualify for the higher rates of interest. There are ways of increasing the number of DD's you have, but if you aren't willing to do that (many people aren't) then you may need to concentrate on the accounts which pay a lower rate of interest, but on a higher amount per account.

Also, there's nothing wrong with starting small (one or two accounts) and then building the number up as you get used to the juggling act.

Unfortunately there's no such thing as completely risk-free - by putting the money into savings you don't eliminate inflation risk. If inflation continues at the current 2.3% over that same three year period, you'd need to have £8,565 to preserve the spending power of your starting £8K, so by using the accounts you suggest you're already losing some of the value of your pot.

Better savings/current/regular saver accounts would help address this but don't be too heavily influenced by the over-simplistic notion that saving is risk-free and investment is risky....

Yes, I agree that that's a fairly widespread perception but am just pointing out that careless use of a meaningless phrase like 'risk-free' is misleading in that capital loss is only one of many different types of risk, so mitigating that one in particular shouldn't be seen as the be all and end all!

It is only as complicated as you want to make it. You can start with up to £20k at 1.5% (give or take) with one Santander 123 account. Two different accounts and a couple of standing orders can give you more.

About a dozen current accounts and maybe 18 regular savers and you're probably reaching the limit of benefits compared to just putting anything else you have into top end 'conventional' savings accounts. Done efficiently, running 30 or so accounts should take no more time day-to-day than running just a few.

....which, with all due respect, proves my point about lack of understanding of what risk actually means!

It's clearly inappropriate to invest in S&S with a mindset that a lower balance after no more than a year is enough reason to crystallise losses (i.e. buying high and selling low), but each to their own. It doesn't make much sense to dismiss the principle because of poor decision-making (or advice perhaps?) though - it's a bit like saying that you're never driving again because you bought a 40-year old Austin Allegro and it kept breaking down....

But what is it (would it be) worth now? Stocks and Shares are a long-term investment so their value within a year of investment should be of little concern.

The best thing to do with high(er) interest current accounts and regular savers would be to concentrate on the highest paying accounts first and preferably take advantage of the odd switching incentive along the way. By doing that you can get the best return possible as soon as possible.

The FlexDirect/Flexclusive regular saver combo at Nationwide is a great place to start especially if you can get a £100 switching incentive by being referred to them. The First Direct regular saver account is also an excellent account to get early on with a potential £100 available for switching an account to them.

It is only as complicated as you want to make it. You can start with up to £20k at 1.5% (give or take) with one Santander 123 account. Two different accounts and a couple of standing orders can give you more.

About a dozen current accounts and maybe 18 regular savers and you're probably reaching the limit of benefits compared to just putting anything else you have into top end 'conventional' savings accounts. Done efficiently, running 30 or so accounts should take no more time day-to-day than running just a few.

How this site works

We think it's important you understand the strengths and limitations of the site. We're a journalistic website and aim to provide the best MoneySaving guides, tips, tools and techniques, but can't guarantee to be perfect, so do note you use the information at your own risk and we can't accept liability if things go wrong.

This info does not constitute financial advice, always do your own research on top to ensure it's right for your specific circumstances and remember we focus on rates not service.

Do note, while we always aim to give you accurate product info at the point of publication, unfortunately price and terms of products and deals can always be changed by the provider afterwards, so double check first.

We don't as a general policy investigate the solvency of companies mentioned (how likely they are to go bust), but there is a risk any company can struggle and it's rarely made public until it's too late (see the Section 75 guide for protection tips).

We often link to other websites, but we can't be responsible for their content.

Always remember anyone can post on the MSE forums, so it can be very different from our opinion.

MoneySavingExpert.com is part of the MoneySupermarket Group, but is entirely editorially independent. Its stance of putting consumers first is protected and enshrined in the legally-binding MSE Editorial Code.